Bentivoglio

Bentivoglio bān´tēvō´lyō [key], Italian noble family, one of several powerful clans in the struggle for control of Bologna during most of the 15th cent. Its greatest member was Giovanni II, who was lord—in fact if not in name—from 1462 until 1506, when Pope Julius II took Bologna. Giovanni II maintained a splendid court and beautified his city. After its exile from Bologna the family resided in Ferrara and produced several important prelates.